SIR Keir Starmer faces controversy as his new City minister is accused of a conflict of interest over past China lobbying. Downing Street yesterday refused to say if Emma Reynolds will have a say

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he has “full confidence” in Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and stressed that his government would stick to its fiscal rules in response to a surge in UK borrowing costs.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, the UK gained a reputation for being one of the biggest advocates for aggressive support for Ukraine. But under Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s tenure, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration and its supporters have grown increasingly concerned about Britain’s more cautious approach.

Keir Starmer condemned Elon Musk’s barrage of social media posts attacking his UK government, his strongest response yet amid an escalating row with the billionaire Donald Trump ally that risks damaging relations between Britain and the US.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer got a taste of the topsy-turvy politics of the coming Trump era as his government spent the weekend defending itself from attacks from Elon Musk, only to see the billionaire provocateur turn on his erstwhile British ally,

Keir Starmer will travel to Ukraine in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of deploying an international peacekeeping force there after the conflict with Russia has ended, his first visit to the war-torn nation since becoming UK prime minister half a year ago.

Keir Starmer’s allies spy a silver lining at the end of a week dominated by Elon Musk’s interventions in British politics and global market turmoil that endangers the UK prime minister’s economic plans.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer had clear instructions for his team going into the new year: keep calm, drown out the naysayers and focus on delivering for the British public. But some in Labour question whether that steady-as-she-goes approach will be enough to weather the headwinds coming their way in 2025.

The UK’s City minister Tulip Siddiq resigned from the government following an ethics review into allegations around her use and receipt of properties linked to the ousted Bangladeshi regime.

Keir Starmer’s office insisted the prime minister was still committed to ending revolving-door relationships between government and business after appointing a former financial industry lobbyist to oversee the very firms she represented as recently as last year.

The Chinese-owned social app’s future in the U.S. still hangs in the balance. It appears neither Biden nor especially Trump wants it to shut down abruptly, but the Supreme Court today upheld the law banning it, so … ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer end the week in a better political position than they began it. Market movements have settled, the chatter about Reeves’ position has mostly ended, and the pair have shifted into fight-back mode.